by Amanda Ashby
“Yes, Miss I-Only-Shop-for-Books-and-Kitten-T-shirts.” He continued to stand in front of her, his hand outstretched. Riley wisely scrambled to her feet of her own accord, keen to avoid another explosion from going off under her skin if he touched her. “I know exactly how much you hate shopping. But that’s because you’ve never been on a Will Henderson Extravaganza. I believe that you finish work at two o’clock today, which means that I’ll be waiting to collect you. First up we’re going for coffee at your favorite café and then we’re off to see a personal shopper who’ll hunt down potential dresses, which she’ll then bring to you on the strict instruction that it can’t take up more than half an hour of your time. And while that happens, we’ll go book shopping.”
Riley, who’d been busy fiddling with her purse, narrowed her eyes. “You spend most of the year in wooden huts; since when do you know personal shoppers? More to the point, is this because you feel guilty about letting my crazy parents think that we’re dating?”
A reluctant smile tugged at Will’s mouth as he held his hands up in mock surrender. “Okay, so yes I feel guilty that they found out about our fake relationship, but the main reason is that Josh’s sister, Fiona, has just started up a personal shopping business and it seemed like a great way to give her a job and save you from what you hate. So, what do you say?”
“Fine,” she said. Not because she wanted to have a personal shopper running after her or because she wanted Will to think she could be bribed with books and coffee (though that was entirely possible), but because she had the sinking feeling that if she didn’t have a dress by the time Italy finished her shift at the library, her industrious friend would drag her to the outlet mall on the other side of town and it would take a lot longer than half an hour. Then she narrowed her eyes. “But if this Fiona thinks that I’m going to be wearing anything that’s pink or covered in frills, then she has another think coming.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re safe from pink frills.” Will’s lips twitched with amusement. Riley just hoped that meant this Fiona knew what she was doing.
***
“See, I told you it would be fun,” Will announced later that afternoon, his eyes on Riley as she clutched at the heavy carrier bag that was currently filled with new books. She had to admit that he was right.
So far there was nothing about their shopping trip that had been hideous. Fiona had turned out to be a five-foot-one dynamo who’d admired Riley’s T-shirt and had used sensible words like black and comfortable as opposed to figure-hugging or sexy. And after she’d asked Riley a handful of questions and made some notes of her size and coloring, she’d left them to their coffees and books with a promise to call when she was ready for Riley to try on some dresses. Which meant that instead of being dragged to every clothing store in town, she and Will had spent a lazy two hours eating, talking and laughing.
She couldn’t remember when she’d enjoyed herself more. Not that Will needed to know that, since it would only encourage him to think that he was right about other things. Like not giving in to her boss’s crazy demands when it came to guinea pigs and dating.
“You know it’s very unattractive when you gloat,” Riley retorted as the pair of them walked to Fiona’s loft, where they’d arranged to meet.
“Says the person with cinnamon sugar around their mouth,” Will retorted.
“I do?” Riley came to a halt on the doorstep behind Will, who pressed the buzzer. One day she’d learn to eat donuts in a ladylike manner, but today was obviously not that day. She tried to wipe it away, which just caused Will to laugh.
“Stop, you’re making it worse,” he said, closing the distance between them. He lifted his hand up to her mouth. “And stop wriggling.”
“Okay.” Riley forced herself to stand still as he slowly brushed the tip of his finger along the line of her upper lip. Her heart pounded as his finger traced a line along her chin and down her neck. How could she possibly have so much sugar on her face? For a moment she wondered if Will was just doing it to tease her, but when she looked up, his pupils were dilated and there was no hint of laughter in them. Her throat tightened, the urge to close the gap between them nearly overwhelming her. All she wanted to do was snake her hands around his waist and breathe in the citrus woody tang that was Will. She hitched in her breath—but before she could step forward, Fiona appeared in the doorway with her arms folded.
“Hey, you two lovebirds. There’s time for that later, but right now we have dresses to try on.”
“Oh.” Will was the first to step away, color flooding his cheeks. If Riley didn’t know better she would say he was flustered. Which was strange, because she’d seen Will go through many emotions, but flustered wasn’t one of them. “Sorry, it was a sugar-donut emergency.”
“Riiight.” Fiona raised an eyebrow as she ushered them in. Once in the loft, Fiona sent Will over to a comfortable-looking seat and nodded for Riley to follow her into the bedroom, where six dresses were hanging.
“That’s all I have to try on?” Riley said in a dubious voice, glancing around in case there was a second lot that she hadn’t noticed.
“Relax. Will explained to me last night just how much you hate shopping, though judging by the size of that bag, I’m guessing books are the exception. Anyway, after meeting you it was pretty easy to figure out what would and wouldn’t suit you. Personally I like the green one the best, but I thought I’d give you some options.”
“Thank you.”
“No, thank you. Setting up my own business has been terrifying, so when Will called, I was beyond grateful.”
“He’s pretty thoughtful like that,” Riley said, not at all surprised that Will had been inspired to hire Fiona. It was one of his many amazing qualities, how he was always looking at ways for people to help each other out. He was a connector who liked to make things happen.
“You’re a lucky girl.” Fiona smiled as she unzipped the first dress and walked out of the room to give Riley some privacy.
It was some kind of heavy silk in a dull green color with tiny colored flowers embroidered around the bodice. More important, it didn’t look like she would need a surgical procedure to get into it. She scrambled out of her clothes and carefully slipped it on, making sure it didn’t snag on anything before smoothing it down over her hips. The silk was cool against her skin, and while the skirt seemed to hug her legs, when she took a tentative step forward she was pleased to discover she could move.
She turned to the mirror and let out a small gasp as her reflection stared back at her. In fact, if it weren’t for the glasses and the pink bandage on her finger from where she got a paper cut yesterday, she wouldn’t have recognized herself.
“How’s it going?” Fiona poked her head around the corner. Her eyes widened and a grin spread out across her face. “Scrap that question; I can see it’s going great. Riley, it’s perfect on you.”
“D-do you really think so?” Riley nibbled at her mouth and lifted up her arm to check that it really was her. The arm in the mirror moved in response.
“No thinking required, honey. The color makes your hair pop and the style means you’ll be able to wear it again once the wedding is over. In fact, you could wear it with your biker boots and a denim jacket and it would look amazing. Oh, and now that I’ve seen it on you, I’ve got a gorgeous necklace for you. I’d selected it for another client, but I think it will go perfectly!” Fiona hurried off, leaving Riley all alone.
She stared at her reflection. It still didn’t seem right. The Riley she knew stayed in, worked hard and patted her favorite books when no one was looking. But the person in the mirror had hips and curves and she almost looked like the kind of woman who Will dated.
What would it be like if Will wasn’t just her fake boyfriend, but her real one?
Her body tingled in response and her cheeks heated before she remembered—not only did she look like the kind woman Will dat
ed, she also looked like the kind of woman whose heart inevitably got broken after two weeks.
“Hey,” Will’s voice called out from the other side of the door. “Tucker just called. Please, can you explain how my levelheaded brother is suddenly having a meltdown over whether it’s tacky to have pink champagne for the first toast? Anyway, Fiona told me that you’ve found the dress, so I’m coming in, ready or—”
The rest of the words died as his head appeared in the doorway. He sucked in his breath as his mouth dropped open.
“Wh-why are you looking at me like that? Is it too much?” Riley tried to ignore the heat that was flowing up to her cheeks. “It makes me look like I’m trying too hard, doesn’t it?
“No.” Will seemed to have difficulty swallowing. “Definitely not.”
“So, what’s wrong? Does it make me look fat? Flat-chested? Like an acorn? Will, you need to explain yourself because your entire family is going to be there. Your dad. Lisa. I don’t want to embarrass you.”
“Trust me, there’s nothing you could do to embarrass me. Not ever. Are we clear? Besides, this dress looks amazing. If anything will convince my family that I’ve fallen for my best friend, this is it. Okay?”
“O-okay.” She nodded just as Fiona reappeared holding a delicate golden necklace. The next ten minutes were spent discussing shoes and purses as Riley tried to remind herself that just because they were pretending to date, it didn’t mean that they actually were.
***
“I swear that this is better than what I ate when I was in Hanoi,” Will said several hours later. He gave a short groan, continuing to hand-feed Bingley a piece of lettuce from his Vietnamese takeout.
“And it’s only ten minutes from home rather than fifteen hours,” Riley teased as she pushed away her plate and stretched her legs out in front of her. She’d changed into sweats as soon as they’d arrived home and her red hair was in a messy pile on top of her head. Unfortunately, thanks to seeing her in that dress, Will now knew that underneath the baggy clothes she preferred was a figure that had almost caused him to lose the power of speech. And now that he knew, he could never un-know. “It’s also the perfect way to help me recover from such an exhausting day. Everything hurts. Even my nose.”
“Your nose hurts from shopping?” Will pushed his brows together in mock outrage and tried not to look at the adorable way her nose peaked at the end.
“Yes.” She reached for her beer and took a sip. “Shops are smelly. It was hard work.”
“I’ll have you know that today was a perfectly planned shopping experience that was designed to give you maximum enjoyment and minimum annoyance. And then, despite my brother’s lavish but inappropriate offer to send us on a romantic dinner, I wined and dined you with your favorite takeout. I don’t like to boast, but it was pretty perfect.” Will reached for his own beer and took a deep pull.
“Fine, Mr. Smarty Pants, so it was a lovely afternoon that was followed by a thoughtful dinner.” Riley poked out her tongue at him. Bingley lost interest in the lettuce leaf and ambled toward yesterday’s newspaper, his guinea pig eyes full of evil intent. “But I have to pretend it was exhausting so that we don’t have to do it too often.”
“What’s that mean?” He stiffened. He’d had a pretty amazing day, culminating in eating and drinking beer while listening to Riley chat about books as Bingley roamed the apartment. The fact that she didn’t want to do it again stung his ego. “Don’t tell me that you’d rather be getting ready for your date with whats-his-name?”
“It’s Calvin, and no, of course that’s not what I meant. It’s just that you’re only back for such a short period of time—the last thing I want to do is shop. I’d much rather us have a picnic at a park or go on a hike. Speaking of which, I’ve found a great new place we can go to. And it has a waterfall.”
“Good point. Waterfall trumps shoe shopping every time,” Will said, his harmony restored. “What if we go next week once the wedding is over and done with?”
“Perfect.” Riley put down her beer and flexed her shoulders, like she often did after sitting in one spot reading for too long. “It’ll be nice to just relax and forget about everything.”
“I agree,” Will said. Automatically, he put his arm around the back of her neck. His plan had been to swivel her around so that he could gently knead the knots out of her shoulders, just like he’d done a hundred times before. He hadn’t counted on the bolt of electricity that ran along his arm as his fingers swept across her soft skin.
His mistake was further compounded when Riley let out a soft gasp that did sinister things to his libido. Before he could stop himself he leaned forward, his arm still around her back. They were so close now that Will could see the erratic rise and fall of her chest. She turned to him and pushed her glasses back into her tangle of red hair, her brown eyes wide like a puppy’s. Desire coursed through him but he paused, racked by indecision.
It still stung that kissing her had reduced him to a quivering mess and that for her it was only just so-so. Then again, according to Tucker, who was now an authority on love and romance, Riley had been enjoying herself. If that really was the case what would happen if they kissed again? Would she really hate it as much as she had implied?
Her breathing increased and Will’s indecision fled the scene as his eyes locked in on hers.
“Will, I—” she said in a throaty gasp, but before she could complete the sentence his cell phone rang. He ignored it, his face never leaving Riley’s. Whoever it was, they could wait, but as his ringtone played out again, Riley’s face flinched and she wrinkled her nose.
“What if it’s important?”
“It’s not,” he assured her, but after it rang out for a third time and them started again, he snatched it up, his body a sea of frustration. “What?”
“Will, don’t be mad that I’m calling you, but we really need to speak,” Lisa said from down the other end. His whole body stiffened like the time he’d been stung by a nest of ants. It wasn’t the first time she’d contacted him since she’d married his father. In fact, every few months he could expect to get a message or an email from her. Sometimes they were lighthearted and sometimes they were angry, but in each one the intention was clear. She wanted to play him off against his father because she liked the idea of two men fighting over her.
“How did you get this number?” He ground his teeth.
“That’s not important,” Lisa said in the same dismissive way she did for anything that didn’t suit her agenda. “I just need to speak to you about Saturday. Will, I still feel terrible about what happened, and I know that you’re just bringing your friend to save face—”
“Oh, is that what you know?” He stood up from the sofa, as wave after wave of emotions raced through him. “Well, let’s be clear about one thing. What I do and who I do it with is none of your concern. Understood?”
Then without another word he finished the call.
There was complete silence, apart from Bingley, who was foraging through the carpet for goodness knows what. Will took a deep breath and tried to control the blood that was pounding in his temples.
He hated that Riley even had to be in the room while Lisa tried to spread her poison, as if it would somehow contaminate her. Which was crazy, but then again, he’d always tried to protect Riley, be it from loser boyfriends or demanding bosses. Which begged the question: Why was he taking her to Tucker’s wedding when Lisa was going to be there?
His jaw tightened and it took several moments before he could finally turned around to where Riley was sitting cross-legged on the sofa.
“Was that who I thought it was?” she asked in a soft voice, which wounded him more than the phone call. After all, he was used to the pitying looks that he’d received from his friends and family after his father’s wedding, but he’d never had it from Riley before. The fact that the only thing he felt for Lisa was contemp
t made it even more frustrating.
He nodded. “It was.”
“Are you okay?”
“Of course,” he snapped, realizing too late how sharp it sounded. God, he could be such a jerk sometimes. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so harsh.”
“You don’t need to apologize.” Riley sounded just like she always did, but it was impossible not to notice the faint color that had risen in her cheeks. He also couldn’t help notice that whatever had been building between them was gone. “This was always going to be a difficult time for you. You said so yourself.”
“Yeah.” He began to pace the room, trying to shake off the vague sense of annoyance. He wasn’t sure if it was because hearing Lisa’s voice was a reminder of what he still had to face or if he was just tired.
After all, he’d stayed up late the previous night reviewing the two meetings he’d had, both of which had ended with a regretful no and the advice that his startup would be perfect for someone like Geoff Tait. But as he watched Riley clamp down on her full lower lip, he had the unsettling feeling that it was because he wanted more out of their relationship, even though logically he knew it was a bad idea.
Chapter Eight
“And then Lisa picked up the kitten and it started to meow in the sweetest way,” Will’s great-aunt Monica said, then narrowed her eyes, studying Riley’s face to see her reaction. Riley plastered on her best smile and nodded her head in what she hoped was an appropriate manner. Next to her Will smiled, but his fists were in two tight balls.
“That’s so heartwarming,” she replied. They stood on the manicured grass of the vineyard where the wedding was being held. It was only half an hour out of Seattle, but it felt like another world. In Riley’s extensive experience, outside weddings could be risky, but thankfully the weather had been perfect as the couple had said their I dos in a tranquil glade decorated with bunting and Chinese lanterns all swaying in the gentle breeze.
